[Bug c++/16215] New: Bad error message when requesting member of non-aggregate type

["carlo at gcc dot gnu dot org" <gcc-bugzilla at gcc dot gnu dot org>]

In the category "error messages that can be improved"
(and that is not because I am looking for them, but because
they have actually *several times* been confusing me in a real
life situation), please consider the following code snippet:

struct A {
  void f();
};

void g()
{
  A* a;
  a.f();
}

This results in:

test.cc: In function `void g()':
test.cc:8: error: `f' has not been declared
test.cc:8: error: request for member of non-aggregate type before '(' token

This could be improved by putting the "non-aggregate" error first,
or - even better - not displaying the first error in the presence of
the second. Finally, it would be better to add what is the non-aggregate
type.  For example:

test.cc: In function `void g()':
test.cc:8: request for member `f' in `a', which is of non-aggregate type `A*'

(Which is the error given by 3.3.3 and below).

I am aware that this looks more like a "feature requests" and an unnecessary
one on top of that - but well, it IS an improvement and it HAS been confusing
me; real-life code (and the resulting errors) looks just a tat-bit different
than these little code snippets.

-- 
           Summary: Bad error message when requesting member of non-
                    aggregate type
           Product: gcc
           Version: 3.5.0
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: c++
        AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org
        ReportedBy: carlo at gcc dot gnu dot org
                CC: gcc-bugs at gcc dot gnu dot org


http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=16215